Episode 140 Iberica –
I wondered what would happen when the Flame group was caught up in a magical storm, but everyone was able to recover faster than expected.
Gaston and Shandra Jerome Morel felt better and were walking around within a few days, and Austel and the beastmen who were swept away in the center of the storm took a little longer, but they seem to have recovered somehow.
Considering that even though I was protected by divine power, my body was a mess right after being swept away by the magic storm, Gremory’s statement that she was still a little more skilled than Eris was not a bluff.
I’m disturbed.
I managed to catch him off guard this time, but if Paimon had done his best, he would never have been caught so easily.
To put it more calmly, the reason we were able to win this time was thanks to Gremory’s help.
For a Gremorian demon, he can communicate with her quite well, and this time, we cooperated with each other out of mutual understanding…
But I think it would be a pain in the ass if I were to meet as an enemy with a succubus who wields such powerful divine power.
I shook my head as I remembered the face of the succubus who had no idea what she was thinking when she stole Paimon.
“Why but brother?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. “I was thinking about something else for a moment.”
I turned my gaze and looked at the city of Dilus.
Gremory’s claim was not false.
A puppet that uses magic engineering to operate a body that has had every bit of its magic or bodily fluids sucked out, and injects magic into the empty blood vessels to maintain and move the body.
The drones whose magical power was cut off were completely reduced to dust and scattered in just a few hours.
Ironically, there will be no need to remove tens of thousands of drone corpses, which will make recovery work easier, but as Gremory said, if we accuse the drones, there will be no proper evidence.
I clicked my tongue and looked at the residents of Dilus, who were working hard to recover from the city that had been devastated by all kinds of explosions and battles.
“I was prepared, but the damage to the city area was quite severe.”
Once again, Crocs’ determination and the Iberica brothers’ loyalty are impressive.
Honestly, if I were to try to block the enemy by blowing up Lumiere’s city center, I think I would be punished right away.
Crocs grinned, revealing his sharp fangs, and responded.
“But the brothers in Iberica are safe.”
Then he raised his foot and stepped on the debris scattered on the floor, shattering it into pieces.
“If we are brothers who overcome danger and unite as one, we can rebuild the city!”
I turned my head and looked at the humans, orc goblins, and the occasional beastman energetically carrying and clearing away debris.
“Yeah, I guess so.”
When I answered with a natural smile, Crocs also smiled at me and said.
“Thanks to you, brother. Without you, we might not have been able to overcome this crisis. These brothers of Crocs and Iberica will not forget their pact with you. “The moment you and Francia need help, we are willing to be with you!”
“Haha, that’s good. Then, me too…”
I said, easing my still slightly stiff body.
“Since I’m here, I have to make sure I get my work done. “Drones are coming to an end. Shouldn’t we pay the price we deserve to those who have been installing them for the sake of living?”
Crocs also heard me and laughed viciously, baring his fangs.
“Those who betrayed their compatriots, sold them out to the devil, and turned them into soulless dolls will have to pay the price.”
The moment has finally come to wipe out the remnants of Iberica and completely expel the influence of demons from the central continent.
* * *
The sea west of Iberica.
An ironclad ship with iron plates covering the hull of a wooden sailing ship was gliding across the sea with its sails wide open.
Inside that boat.
“Hmm~ Hmm~♬”
Gremory, a blond succubus dressed as a nun, hummed and walked briskly down the hallway carrying a tray with a bowl of porridge on it, then shouted energetically as she opened the cabin door.
“Children of Paimon~ Is it time to eat porridge? Heyaaaaa!”
Gremory, who had been shouting vigorously, was scared and made strange noises.
Paimon was sitting on the bed, caressing his severed horn with his hand.
“No, don’t be surprised. I didn’t expect Paimon to be up already. What you just said was like Gremory’s joke-”
“Gremory.”
Gremory hiccuped.
“…yes?”
“What about the drones?”
“Well, since we lost the source of magical power, everything collapsed.”
Paimon asked with a sigh.
“Did I lose?”
“The Marquis de Lafayette won, Paimon.”
Paimon laughed.
“Are you satisfied?”
Instead of answering, Gremory erased his embarrassed attitude and just smiled.
“Ah-ah- I never thought I would lose. That’s so absurd…”
Since the deployment of the drone itself was done at his insistence, he should take responsibility for that as well.
He will probably lose his position as CEO, and even if he is lucky, Sloth’s position will be greatly weakened.
Nevertheless, to Gremory, Paimon did not seem particularly angry or embarrassed.
because.
“cool.”
Because Paimon had such an ecstatic smile on his lips.
“Paimoon…? “Did cutting off your horn cause any mental problems?”
“Gremory. “What did you think of the Marquis de Lafayette?”
“It looks like there’s a problem…” As
Gremory couldn’t form a proper conversation and answered appropriately, Paimon spoke ecstatically, smoothing the severed horn with his hand.
“I thought it was below expectations, but it exceeded expectations. Absolutely perfect.”
“In Gremory’s opinion, Paimon is in a position to think for himself, not for the Marquis de Lafayette. “We will return to the Abyss Corporation soon.”
“Abyss Corporation…”
Paimon slowly recited the name and smiled almost manically.
Originally, Paimon’s appreciation for the Marquis de Lafayette was nothing more than mere interest.
He was the most impressive man of hundreds of years of demonic life by participating in the revolution and becoming the center of all kinds of storms among old Frangian aristocrats, but that was all.
I thought it was innovative ‘for a human’.
The Abyss Corporation’s repeated misjudgment of the Marquis de Lafayette and the small losses it had suffered had accumulated to the point where it could no longer be ignored.
Paimon thought it was quite pleasant to see the Abyss Corporation being swayed by him, but he didn’t think it was beyond the influence he could have as a human.
Above all, the Abyss Corporation is so huge and powerful. No matter how hard a human being struggles, he can only be a nuisance and not a threat.
To put it bluntly, we cannot deny that the reason Paimon lost in this fight was because he thought the Marquis de Lafayette was easy.
But Paimon was wrong.
The Marquis de Lafayette showed more power than the Abyss Corporation had judged, and did well in dealing with drones he had never seen before, far exceeding expectations.
Paimon glanced at Gremory, noting that he had done a suspiciously good job.
“…?”
Gremory, the abominable succubus, smiled innocently as if she knew nothing.
Due to the nature of the succubus’ abilities, I can’t find any evidence, but I can point out something.
Nevertheless, Paimon drastically revised his evaluation of the Marquis de Lafayette, including that.
If you have figured it out and dealt with it, you already have an intelligence that surpasses that of a mere human. If you made the CEO of Abyss Corporation feel like handing over the information, that is also an ability as an uncertain variable.
It did not give Paimon even the slightest sense of crisis that if he returned immediately, it would be difficult to keep his position as CEO.
Filled with joy, Paimon began to fill the empty mind with a new script after the horn that had connected tens of thousands of existences was cut off.
If you are the Marquis de Lafayette, you can use him well and add weight to him.
Wouldn’t it be possible to collapse this boringly stagnant power, the Abyss Corporation?
* * *
Several months passed and summer arrived.
Ruhr region, western part of the Germanian Empire.
A man with a bushy beard was sitting on a chair in a tavern, open and reading a newspaper.
Although his demeanor was not very changeable and his beard was bushy, no one approached him or acted rudely.
This is because the man’s attitude naturally exuded aristocratic gestures, and even his face, hidden by a beard, revealed a neatness that was different from that of a commoner.
Page after page. The man who was skimming through the newspaper stopped at one page.
On the page was an article stating that Crocs, a barbarian who claimed to be the king of the wasteland, and Pierre de Lafayette, commander-in-chief of the French Revolutionary Army, were destroying Porto Port and its allied tribes.
As a newspaper of the Germanian Empire, it was full of slanderous language against the Marquis de Lafayette, who had joined hands with the pagan barbarians and was fighting against the port of Porto, where the believers of the Church of Light resided, but in any case, they were also winning one battle after another and the Allied Forces were quickly conquering the Iberica Peninsula. could not deny the victory.
The man, Gilles de Lionel, quietly read the article and closed his eyes.
-Good luck, Marquis.
-Thank you for the help Lionel gave me. … If the situation changes and you change your mind, I am willing to help, so please let me know at any time. I will never forget the last words exchanged with the Marquis de Lafayette in the south of Francia.
Empty greetings exchanged even though both of them knew very well that this would not be the case.
-Go, son. It is enough for one person to die carrying the family’s honor, so you leave and continue Lionel’s generation.
His father, who had sent him away saying so, died after a duel with the Marquis de Lafayette.
What are you doing now?
Just as Gilles de Lionel was mocking herself and about to turn the pages of the newspaper, the door to the tavern opened with a creak.
Jill only glanced up indifferently, and then slowly lowered the hand that was reading the newspaper as the person who entered the door approached him with what appeared to be his attendants.
With my lowered hand, I grabbed the handle of the sword worn at my waist under my cloak.
The pattern of a roaring lion. A sword engraved with an uncanny resemblance to Lafayette’s.
The person who was approaching slowly stopped at a distance just enough that the sword could not reach him and took off his hat.
The person who took off his hat was a man wearing glasses who appeared to be in his late 30s.
He opened his mouth with a smile on his face.
“Hello, I’m a passing traveler. Can I join you for a moment?”
Gilles de Lionel answered, still holding his sword under his cloak.
“I’m sure there are plenty of seats elsewhere.”
“Hahaha…”
The man with glasses smiled and raised his hand, and his subordinates began to drive out other customers from the tavern.
“Hey, what are you doing?” omg! “You can do it, you can’t.”
The owner, who was trying to stop him, opened the money bag that one of his subordinates threw to him, then changed his attitude and bowed down.
The lower you are in life, the more you recognize those who give off a dangerous aura like ghosts.
Those who usually drank alcohol and were mischievous were kicked out without even daring to rebel, and the tavern finally became quiet.
Only then did the man with glasses open his mouth again.
“There are many seats, but isn’t there only one seat for a descendant of the Lionel family who fled the flames of revolution in Francia?”
From the corner of her eye, Gilles de Lionel assessed the strength of the men the bespectacled man had brought, then made a quick decision and took his hand off the sword.
“who are you.”
“Oh my. The introduction is late. “My name is Justin von Wittenfeld, the chancellor who serves His Majesty the Great King in the Kingdom of Krafte.”
“…The Prime Minister of Krafte. “He was a high man.”
Wittenfeld opened his mouth with a friendly smile despite the question’s unimpressed words.
“Haha, it’s more like a chore worker. “Mainly, I handle matters that the King is not interested in, as I please.”
“So what does the precious person of the Kingdom of Krafte do to me?”
Wittenfeld, who had been asked a question, looked down, looked at the page of the newspaper he was reading, and smiled.
“It’s strange, isn’t it? “The comrade who fought with you in the kingdom’s civil war destroyed your family and is now the commander of the revolutionary army, working hard to exalt his prestige.”
Jill didn’t answer.
Wittenfeld continued speaking without paying any attention to that.
“Personally, I quite dislike the story of encouragement and punishment. “In reality, not only is justice and evil ambiguous, but it rarely happens that justice triumphs and evil is defeated.”
“….”
“Unlike the romantic story, in reality, when those who advocate for the cause and justice are faced with their mistakes, they either self-righteously deny it, saying that it is something that cannot be part of their justice, or even if it is a mistake, they choose to follow their own path for the greater good. “It just shows hypocrisy.”
“…high-ranking people like sophistry.”
Wittenfeld grinned at Jill’s harsh words.
“I like other stories instead.”
Then, with his glasses shining, he looked at Gilles de Lionel and said,
“If you give a person who has no power, so he swallows his emotions, and wears cynicism and contemplation on the outside, the power to make a just decision, how will he wield it? This is much more exciting than a boring story that is just childish and didactic. ”
Jill glared at Wittenfeld and sighed lightly.
“Come now?”
“Not now, Gilles de Lionel.”
After a pause, Wittenfeld looked into the sticky flame beneath the surface of his cold, cynical eyes and added with a deep smile:
“I guess it’s ‘finally.’”
